About NCCN

NCCN International Program Year in Review – 2013

By Jonathan Larsen, MPP, Manager, Global Business Development

For the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) International Program, 2013 was a year of ‘firsts.’ In March 2013, NCCN held its first annual International Day in conjunction with the NCCN 18th Annual Conference: Advancing the Standard of Cancer Care™, during which more than 20 physicians from across Latin America and three physicians from Turkey came to Hollywood, Florida to meet with NCCN Guidelines Panel members and staff to consider a regional adaptation of the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) for Colorectal Cancer in Latin America and potential modifications to NCCN Guidelines® for Melanoma for use in Turkey. International Day 2013 led to the publication of Latin American editions of the NCCN Guidelines for Colon and Rectal Cancers translated into both Latin American Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese and the translation of the NCCN Guidelines for Melanoma into Turkish.

In late Summer 2013, The NCCN International Educational Activities Program (NCCN IEAP) was launched to provide a mechanism to recognize ex-U.S. physicians, via an NCCN IEAP completion certificate, who have demonstrated an understanding of the NCCN Guidelines as measured by required NCCN Guidelines educational content hours successfully completed. To learn more about this program, please visit: www.nccn.org/IEAP

Furthermore, the NCCN International Program Steering Committee was formed in late 2013. Charged with providing programmatic guidance in an advisory capacity, the committee is comprised of multidisciplinary experts from NCCN Member Institutions and represents a broad scope of international expertise. The Chair of the NCCN International Program Steering Committee is Benjamin O. Anderson, MD, Director, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center-based Breast Health Global Initiative (BHGI), Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Breast Health Clinic, and member of the NCCN Breast Cancer Panel.

"I am delighted to work with NCCN on this important international project,” said Dr. Anderson. ”The value of the NCCN algorithms will increase exponentially as the International Committee works with collaborators from other regions of the world to help identify how NCCN Content can best be adapted to their regional needs and resources. This is an exciting time in global medicine."